Tag: Blog Color Palette

​Choosing the Right Color Palette for Your Blog

Have you ever looked at your blog’s free theme and thought of the other dozens of people using it who all have basically the same look as yours? Maybe you want your blog to look at least a wee bit different than others?

Yo I did, too. And I like how mine looks now. Though, there are still some things I’m currently improving.

“But how can you do it on a free platform, Kate?” I hear you ask.

Well really, it has a lot to do with being creative and resourceful, which I love to do so hey! In the next couple of Saturdays, I’ll be sharing the things I did. And we’ll start with your blog’s color palette!

Before that, though, I have to tell you that these are tiny changes you can do to give your blog that “you” feeling. There aren’t any crazy CSS customization or coding here since it’s not available in WordPress’s free platform.

Now! Color palettes.

color-palette-for-blog

How do you know if it’s The Right One? From my experience (and it isn’t much, mind you) it’s somewhere between something you like and something that will tell your readers what exactly your blog is about.

I’ll explain that further below. For now, here are three actionable steps you can take to choose a color palette for your blog.

1 | Get to Know Your Theme

The free themes in WordPress usually have two or three available color palettes that you can choose from. And I can bet ya my favorite watercolor brush they are neutral or versatile colors, colors you can pair up with different other colors.

I mean, I should know. I’ve probably used 5 different themes in the span of two years. #Guilty

The thing is, most blogs I see only use the default colors and then have their own header images. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you. But for me, a custom header isn’t enough.

And if you’re like me, then heed this advice: Get to know your theme.

Learn the specs and features available in your theme. Go to Appearance>Customize in your Dashboard and head over to Colors and Backgrounds. There, you’ll see the different color palettes you can use. Tweak them.

2 | Think of Your Blog’s Ambiance

You know how when you enter a cafe with lots of dark and earthy tones, you get this grounded feeling like you could settle there and be reassured? Or maybe you entered a gift shop with lots of light shades and pastel hues. It has this cheerful and happy atmosphere, right?

That, my friends, is the power of color.

(*whispers excitedly* Amazing, right? Riiiiight?)

You can use color psychology to create a certain atmosphere you want your blog to have just like a physical shop. Do you want your blog to feel friendly and light-hearted? Maybe your sassy personality oozes out of your blog?

Here’s an example of pink along with earthy colors giving an ohmigosh-it’s-so-beautiful! combination of femininity and stability. Gorsh, Pantone should hire me XD (from Design Seeds; image via @closetteblog)

Also, consider your blog’s voice. This is the “personality” that comes out of the words you write. Take a good look at how you write your posts and take note of the kind of voice that it has. Does it sound sarcastic? Adorably awkward? Kind and positive?

You could even reach out to a friend or family and ask them to read a couple of your posts. This way, your blog’s colors will align to your blog’s voice.

3 | Use Color Palette Resources

There are sooo many ways and resources available for you to create your own color palette but I’ll mention the three I used:

Adobe Color CC

I freakin love this app! You can use it on a mobile device or a computer. And, the best part, it’s free! You can enter a certain color and the app will show you the different color palettes you can create based on different color rules (analogous, complementary, etc.) or a custom color palette if you wanna DIY.

Adobe Color Wheel

You can also upload a picture and the app will pick the different colors from the photo. And you can change the color mood!

Bless Adobe!

Adobe Color Mood

Mood Board

You can also look for pictures that invoke those feelings you want your blog to have.

Enter mood board.

Last Wednesday, we talked about how mood boards can help in inspiration-needed times and hey! Here’s one! You can head on to the post to know how to create a mood board and I even have 3 free .psd templates you can use 😉

I used a mood board when I was looking for other colors I can maybe add into my palette. Because, you know, creative blog = colorful-ish. But I don’t plan on using them all the time; they’re just minor colors.

Design Seeds

I’ve heard about this site for so long but I’ve only visited the site last October and oh my gosh! If you love colors, I’m sure you’ll love this site. Its tagline is literally “For all who love color”! There are tons of color palettes based on spectacular photographs in Design Seeds and you will leave the site feeling super inspired 😀

Design Seeds Site

The Blog Market has also posted other color palette tools and resources that you can use. Check out their post and their blog! I am such a huge fan of it!

4 | Keep What You Like in Mind

In the previous three steps, I’ve given you tips on choosing a color palette with your readers in mind. I’ve read it plenty of times from different bloggers that a successful blog caters not only to the blogger but most especially to its readers. And this is true most of the time.

With your readers in mind, you can create a color palette that:

+ Creates the atmosphere you want your blog to have

+ Successfully let people know what your blog is all about (e.g., a fun and open blog with lots of good vibes and inspiration, in my blog’s case)

But this doesn’t mean you won’t put what you like into consideration. Remember that this is your space in the vast Interwebs. For one thing, it would be more fun to create posts in a space you actually like to see them in. And at the same time, it would feel more “you”, doesn’t it? Which is why we started this post in the first place.

To make your humble virtual space more yours. 🙂

If you reached the end of this reeaaally long post, thank you so much for reading! 😀 How did you come up with the color palette for your blog? Is there a certain topic you like me to discuss regarding blog improvements? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy blogging, awesome peeps! 🎨